After learning things in Sunday School and worship, our series on the things you can learn in church in just one day marches on through Confirmation class. We meet every other Sunday following worship.
The first lesson in last Sunday's class was how fun and tasty church could be. Following our Latin American themed service we had south of the border snacks for fellowship. Our Confirmation students got to sample fresh-made chips, salsas, and various dips and nachos. They saw plenty of people gathering and laughing and lining up to eat...a powerful lesson about the joy being together brings us! We had plenty of fun in the classroom seeing who could stand the super-hot salsa.
After that it was time to get down to work. After going through the Old Testament last year, this year we're talking about Jesus and the effect he had on the world. This Sunday we discussed his early ministry, the temptations in the wilderness and the Sermon on the Mount.
We learned how Satan tempted Jesus at his weakest point, after 40 days and nights of fasting in devotion to God. We heard about the three temptations: making bread from stones, bowing down to receive control over the world, leaping from the temple roof to prove God would save you. We heard Jesus reject all three, renouncing the devil three times just as we do at our baptism. We also covered the positive affirmations that Jesus showed us by his resistance: God will provide for us. We do not have to use our power selfishly, to feed our own desires or in slavery to our needs. We already have the gifts we need to live and prosper. We don't have to bow down to other powers to try and gain more. Those powers only bring us more emptiness and a longing that will never be filled. We do not have to prove God to ourselves or anyone. We can't. All we can do is trust him and live our lives accordingly, knowing that we are his.
We learned that after Jesus emerged from the wilderness he began doing four important things: preaching the Word of God, teaching people what it meant, healing their illnesses, and forgiving their sins. We still do those four things in his name when we gather together, especially in church!
In the section on the Sermon on the Mount we first learned that the story was told twice, in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. Matthew has Jesus preaching from a hilltop. Luke has him speaking from the bottom of a dell, like an amphitheater. It's probably called the "Sermon on the Mount" because that sounds better than "Sermon in the Dip".
In this sermon Jesus shared with his followers the basic things they'd need to know in order to live out God's Word.
1. The world considers certain people "blessed", or favored by God. God doesn't see things on the world's terms. He doesn't favor the rich more because they're rich or the powerful because of their influence. God reaches out to and takes care of the poor, the humble, those who cry and mourn, those who are picked on and reviled because they do good. His heart goes out to people in need.
2. We are to love our brothers and sisters. If we do not care about them we are not doing our best to serve God, for they are his children too. We are to love even our enemies, not with a mushy feeling but in Christ's name.
3. If someone does evil to us we are not to respond in kind, as if evil were powerful. Instead we are to respond to evil with good in order to show its power.
4. We are not to pray or live out our Christian lives with arrogance to show the world how good we are. Instead we are to talk to God humbly and pray that he will show the world how good he is.
5. We do not have to worry. God knows our needs and will provide, even as he provides for the lilys of the field and the birds of the air. God will uphold and comfort us.
6. In everything we are to do unto others as we'd want them to do unto us, not living by our selfish, base instincts and fears but living in God's mercy.
7. Those who hear these words and base their lives on them are building their house on a solid foundation. What they do will endure. Those who base their lives on anything else are building on sand. Whatever they construct will eventually fall apart.
We talked about the last moments of life, hearing people talk on their death bed. In all my years of sitting with people at their moment of passing, I have never heard anyone say, "I'm so proud I had that fancy car and made tons of money." The only thing people look back on--the only thing that matters--is whether they loved and were loved...whether they built grace-filled relationships and felt they did good in the world. The Sermon on the Mount shows us how to do that.
Confirmation class is always profound, but this session in particular always gets me. Jesus' words here are so heartfelt, simple yet far-reaching. It's a good reminder for us in a world that seems to pull us in a hundred different directions and gives us a million commitments to cement us to each. No matter where we go, no matter what we do, only one thing really matters: living out a godly life.
It's amazing how your life can change in just one day at church.
--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
What You Can Learn From Church in Just One Day: Part 2
Today we continue our look at things you can learn in church in just one day. The day in question was last Sunday, October 27th. In our last post we talked about Sunday School. We move to worship in this post.
The 27th was Reformation Sunday, the day when we honor the folks who have reformed our church throughout the ages. In Lutheran churches this is normally accompanied by selections from Martin Luther and his grand, old German hymns plus some cheerleading for being Lutheran. This year we decided to mix it up a little bit, talking instead about the theological reforms gifted to us from the Latin American church of the 20th century. Not only was this a different flavor, it allowed us to define our church as still reforming, in the growth process instead of the end-product of it.
Obviously it would be impossible to cover multiple centuries of Latin American development in a single sermon (or blog post). Instead we took a broad sweep across history that led to a couple of key theological inspirations in the 1940's and 1950's.
Latin America contained some of the world's oldest cultures...amazing, brutal, heirs to all the good and ill of humanity. When explorers from Spanish-speaking nations discovered and then colonized Latin America they ran into, conquered, and transformed these indigenous cultures. As was true of most European-indigenous culture clashes, two themes ended up dominating:
1. Those native folks were sitting on top of tons of natural resources.
2. The natives had not heard of Jesus Christ or his Gospel.
In the colonization environment, these two themes intertwined. Missionaries and "civilized" folks brought religious and cultural reform to the indigenous people, changing their society. Establishing a European religious and cultural framework paved the way for European access to the economic resources of the region.
We can debate all day whether such missionary impulses were right or wrong, helpful or destructive. No matter what we decide, it still happened. The end result of this religious-societal-economic chemistry was a strong strain of Catholicism throughout Latin America, Catholicism which tended to value authority and upholding the status quo, including that dominant (and in some ways exploitative) economic and social framework.
In the mid-20th century several theologians re-examined the assumptions under which their church had operated for centuries. Latin America continued to be heavily influenced by church authority and the will of a few privileged folks over and against the poor masses who labored for them. In most circles the authority of the church and will of the economically privileged were assumed to be congruent, if not exactly the same. The wealthy promoted and supported the church. The church upheld the system that made gathering such wealth easy. The relationship was cozy. Few outside of it had the means or status to cry against it. What right or standing would a poor, uneducated person have to challenge the church?
In response to this situation a courageous group of theologians bucked the trend. Their collective movement would come to be known as "Liberation Theology". As with the history, we can only hope to give an oversimplified summary here, but basically Liberation Theology asserted that God did not exist to make us comfortable in the world, but to set us free from everything that oppresses us. God's work does not confirm us as much as it transforms us from death into life.
This transformation centers around the notion of justice. The world judges by certain criteria. Rich and powerful folks are favored, poor folks are despised. God loves all his children, rich or poor. God does not look on the imbalance between powerful and oppressed folks and smile. Rather he moves to correct it, lifting up his children who have been short changed and calling down the ones who have benefited by oppressing others. Folks looked upon wealthy men and a correspondingly wealthy church and said, "God favors them!" These theologians argued that God was actually working harder for the folks who had been left out in the cold by this system. If you wanted to see Jesus at work, you needed to pay less attention to the gold and more attention to the folks crying out for help and the folks without hope.
In the traditional system, church membership meant going along with the flow. The church existed, in part, to support the dominant culture which in turn would support it. The goal of a good church-goer was to make as few waves as possible. Political and economic concerns had little to do with faith. Liberation Theology argued that the church should not confirm inequity, but fight it. Faith was only lip service unless it also resulted in working for justice and true peace in the world. Faith mandated political and economic action. If you saw someone suffering you were supposed to approach them and try to fix the inequity...not because those people were inherently entitled but because that's where God was at work and that's what he was doing.
A necessary extension of this theology: a church is not validated just by existing as an institution. Its spirit is shown most truly by the work it does in the world. No longer is something right just because it benefits the church. Rather the church itself serves a greater right, the will and word of Our Lord.
Practicality mandated that the people the church should pay most attention to (and respect) were the people who gave the most to it...allowed it to exist. This ended up being the rich. More money equals more influence in the church and being credited with a closer connection to God. Liberation Theology stood this on its ear. It claimed that if we wanted to find God most clearly at work, we shouldn't look towards the people who seemed most blessed by the world's standards. Rather we should seek out those who needed God most...by definition those who were doing without. Poverty was not holier than wealth, but if a father had six children doing quite well and one going hungry, he was going to devote his energy to feeding the hungry one before he feasted at the table of the other six.
No theology gives a complete picture of God, but Latin American Liberation Theology exposed many practical weaknesses in the church tradition. The theologians who risked their reputation, standing, and in some cases their lives to bring it to us gave us a great gift...shaking us out of our complacency and our complicit alliance with the ways of the world that appeared to benefit us. They helped us to see that in the name of serving God and preserving his church, we were actually steering farther and farther away from him.
We don't have to look far to see how our own churches and the dominant American culture became aligned whether or not that was in accordance with God's teachings. We, too, suffer the temptation to go along in order to benefit ourselves. We find it inconvenient to immerse ourselves in, and be led by the needs of, the poor and oppressed instead of staying comfortably in the world of the privileged. We'd rather have a church where everybody gets along, where folks don't make waves, where we don't have to fight (or do) much out in the world, and where "peace" is defined as the absence of talk about justice instead of the end result of fighting for it. We're good with the church as long as it doesn't disturb the rest of our life much.
Liberation Theology has a message for us as well. The things we are trying to embrace and preserve end up empty. God is headed in another direction than we instinctively want to go. Even today, half a century later, it remains a wake-up call for the church of the Reformation...a church which hates to contemplate that it might still be reforming. How have we worked for justice? Have we taken a stand for those outcast, impoverished, slighted and disadvantaged? If not, are we really doing the work of the Lord who ate with sinners or are we doing our own work and appending God's name to it in order to justify ourselves?
Another thing to think about and learn from just one day in church!
--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)
The 27th was Reformation Sunday, the day when we honor the folks who have reformed our church throughout the ages. In Lutheran churches this is normally accompanied by selections from Martin Luther and his grand, old German hymns plus some cheerleading for being Lutheran. This year we decided to mix it up a little bit, talking instead about the theological reforms gifted to us from the Latin American church of the 20th century. Not only was this a different flavor, it allowed us to define our church as still reforming, in the growth process instead of the end-product of it.
Obviously it would be impossible to cover multiple centuries of Latin American development in a single sermon (or blog post). Instead we took a broad sweep across history that led to a couple of key theological inspirations in the 1940's and 1950's.
Latin America contained some of the world's oldest cultures...amazing, brutal, heirs to all the good and ill of humanity. When explorers from Spanish-speaking nations discovered and then colonized Latin America they ran into, conquered, and transformed these indigenous cultures. As was true of most European-indigenous culture clashes, two themes ended up dominating:
1. Those native folks were sitting on top of tons of natural resources.
2. The natives had not heard of Jesus Christ or his Gospel.
In the colonization environment, these two themes intertwined. Missionaries and "civilized" folks brought religious and cultural reform to the indigenous people, changing their society. Establishing a European religious and cultural framework paved the way for European access to the economic resources of the region.
We can debate all day whether such missionary impulses were right or wrong, helpful or destructive. No matter what we decide, it still happened. The end result of this religious-societal-economic chemistry was a strong strain of Catholicism throughout Latin America, Catholicism which tended to value authority and upholding the status quo, including that dominant (and in some ways exploitative) economic and social framework.
In the mid-20th century several theologians re-examined the assumptions under which their church had operated for centuries. Latin America continued to be heavily influenced by church authority and the will of a few privileged folks over and against the poor masses who labored for them. In most circles the authority of the church and will of the economically privileged were assumed to be congruent, if not exactly the same. The wealthy promoted and supported the church. The church upheld the system that made gathering such wealth easy. The relationship was cozy. Few outside of it had the means or status to cry against it. What right or standing would a poor, uneducated person have to challenge the church?
In response to this situation a courageous group of theologians bucked the trend. Their collective movement would come to be known as "Liberation Theology". As with the history, we can only hope to give an oversimplified summary here, but basically Liberation Theology asserted that God did not exist to make us comfortable in the world, but to set us free from everything that oppresses us. God's work does not confirm us as much as it transforms us from death into life.
This transformation centers around the notion of justice. The world judges by certain criteria. Rich and powerful folks are favored, poor folks are despised. God loves all his children, rich or poor. God does not look on the imbalance between powerful and oppressed folks and smile. Rather he moves to correct it, lifting up his children who have been short changed and calling down the ones who have benefited by oppressing others. Folks looked upon wealthy men and a correspondingly wealthy church and said, "God favors them!" These theologians argued that God was actually working harder for the folks who had been left out in the cold by this system. If you wanted to see Jesus at work, you needed to pay less attention to the gold and more attention to the folks crying out for help and the folks without hope.
In the traditional system, church membership meant going along with the flow. The church existed, in part, to support the dominant culture which in turn would support it. The goal of a good church-goer was to make as few waves as possible. Political and economic concerns had little to do with faith. Liberation Theology argued that the church should not confirm inequity, but fight it. Faith was only lip service unless it also resulted in working for justice and true peace in the world. Faith mandated political and economic action. If you saw someone suffering you were supposed to approach them and try to fix the inequity...not because those people were inherently entitled but because that's where God was at work and that's what he was doing.
A necessary extension of this theology: a church is not validated just by existing as an institution. Its spirit is shown most truly by the work it does in the world. No longer is something right just because it benefits the church. Rather the church itself serves a greater right, the will and word of Our Lord.
Practicality mandated that the people the church should pay most attention to (and respect) were the people who gave the most to it...allowed it to exist. This ended up being the rich. More money equals more influence in the church and being credited with a closer connection to God. Liberation Theology stood this on its ear. It claimed that if we wanted to find God most clearly at work, we shouldn't look towards the people who seemed most blessed by the world's standards. Rather we should seek out those who needed God most...by definition those who were doing without. Poverty was not holier than wealth, but if a father had six children doing quite well and one going hungry, he was going to devote his energy to feeding the hungry one before he feasted at the table of the other six.
No theology gives a complete picture of God, but Latin American Liberation Theology exposed many practical weaknesses in the church tradition. The theologians who risked their reputation, standing, and in some cases their lives to bring it to us gave us a great gift...shaking us out of our complacency and our complicit alliance with the ways of the world that appeared to benefit us. They helped us to see that in the name of serving God and preserving his church, we were actually steering farther and farther away from him.
We don't have to look far to see how our own churches and the dominant American culture became aligned whether or not that was in accordance with God's teachings. We, too, suffer the temptation to go along in order to benefit ourselves. We find it inconvenient to immerse ourselves in, and be led by the needs of, the poor and oppressed instead of staying comfortably in the world of the privileged. We'd rather have a church where everybody gets along, where folks don't make waves, where we don't have to fight (or do) much out in the world, and where "peace" is defined as the absence of talk about justice instead of the end result of fighting for it. We're good with the church as long as it doesn't disturb the rest of our life much.
Liberation Theology has a message for us as well. The things we are trying to embrace and preserve end up empty. God is headed in another direction than we instinctively want to go. Even today, half a century later, it remains a wake-up call for the church of the Reformation...a church which hates to contemplate that it might still be reforming. How have we worked for justice? Have we taken a stand for those outcast, impoverished, slighted and disadvantaged? If not, are we really doing the work of the Lord who ate with sinners or are we doing our own work and appending God's name to it in order to justify ourselves?
Another thing to think about and learn from just one day in church!
--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)
Monday, October 28, 2013
What You Can Learn From Church in Just One Day: Part 1
This week we're doing a series on things you can learn in church in just one day. It'll focus on last Sunday, the 27th of October. We'll talk about the events our church hosted and some simple lessons that came from them.
Part 1 talks about Sunday School. Though we're not talking about all of Sunday School. Though all ages of kids met together this Sunday for a special event, our Adult Sunday School class still met separately. So if you want to learn what they talked about you'll have to ask them! It's worth noting, though, that even these stories only paint part of the picture.
Last Sunday our Sunday School students gathered for a special Halloween treat. At 9:00 a.m. we all trooped over to Pastor Dave and Careen's house to watch Room on the Broom. This short movie is based on a children's book of the same name. It tells the story of a kind witch and her cat who apparently do everything together. Their favorite activity is soaring high in the sky on the witch's broom. But the witch also has a bad habit of losing anything that isn't stapled to her forehead. In the course of a day's flying she manages to drop her hat, hair ribbon, and wand. Each time the lost item is found by a different friend: dog, bird, frog. Each new friend asks if there's room on the witch's broom for them to go flying too. Even though her cat strenuously objects, the kindhearted lady always says, "Yes!" Eventually they deal with a broken broom, a looming dragon, and all sorts of adventures together.
The movie is filmed in wonderful British stop-action style. The music, artwork, and voice acting are wonderful. It's an amazing piece of work.
More importantly, we asked the students what this story might tell us about God. Part of it was easy. There's always "room on the broom" with God! No matter how many friends we have, more are welcome. The witch's unfailingly kind response to the animals reflects God's invitation to us. "Of course, you're always welcome!"
The witch's cat provided even more insight into faith and church. From the beginning, and nearly throughout the whole movie, the cat was opposed to the addition of new animals. Kitty loved precedence, the relationship with the witch, the prime place on the broom! Those other animals were messy, annoying, unwelcome. Every time the witch said, "Yes!" to one of them the cat slapped his forehead in chagrin. He immediately began ordering them to get out of his space on the broom, to sit towards the back, to stop making noise and fussing and messing up the ride.
Kitty can reflect our attitude about church. We don't hate other people, we just love the way we do things! We want to preserve that way and our special relationship with God. Therefore we're tempted to cite precedence and tradition, to keep other people off the broom...or at least out of the driver's seat!
It's worth noting that as soon as each animal got permission to get on the broom, they quickly joined the cat's side when the next animal wanted on. Cat said no to dog. After dog got on anyway both dog and cat said no to bird, and so on.
We have to remember that God, our broom driver, keeps up his "Yes!" no matter what. Our job isn't to talk him out of it in favor of keeping us special and exclusive, but to happily make "room on the broom" for all he might invite. Kind and welcoming, ready to celebrate the amazing flight...that's our job description as people of faith.
This was a great lesson for all ages, from the youngest who mostly just enjoyed the movie and learned that kindness matters to the oldest who are exploring their own relationship with God and his church. It's just ONE of the things that you can learn in just one day at church!
--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)
Part 1 talks about Sunday School. Though we're not talking about all of Sunday School. Though all ages of kids met together this Sunday for a special event, our Adult Sunday School class still met separately. So if you want to learn what they talked about you'll have to ask them! It's worth noting, though, that even these stories only paint part of the picture.
Last Sunday our Sunday School students gathered for a special Halloween treat. At 9:00 a.m. we all trooped over to Pastor Dave and Careen's house to watch Room on the Broom. This short movie is based on a children's book of the same name. It tells the story of a kind witch and her cat who apparently do everything together. Their favorite activity is soaring high in the sky on the witch's broom. But the witch also has a bad habit of losing anything that isn't stapled to her forehead. In the course of a day's flying she manages to drop her hat, hair ribbon, and wand. Each time the lost item is found by a different friend: dog, bird, frog. Each new friend asks if there's room on the witch's broom for them to go flying too. Even though her cat strenuously objects, the kindhearted lady always says, "Yes!" Eventually they deal with a broken broom, a looming dragon, and all sorts of adventures together.
The movie is filmed in wonderful British stop-action style. The music, artwork, and voice acting are wonderful. It's an amazing piece of work.
More importantly, we asked the students what this story might tell us about God. Part of it was easy. There's always "room on the broom" with God! No matter how many friends we have, more are welcome. The witch's unfailingly kind response to the animals reflects God's invitation to us. "Of course, you're always welcome!"
The witch's cat provided even more insight into faith and church. From the beginning, and nearly throughout the whole movie, the cat was opposed to the addition of new animals. Kitty loved precedence, the relationship with the witch, the prime place on the broom! Those other animals were messy, annoying, unwelcome. Every time the witch said, "Yes!" to one of them the cat slapped his forehead in chagrin. He immediately began ordering them to get out of his space on the broom, to sit towards the back, to stop making noise and fussing and messing up the ride.
Kitty can reflect our attitude about church. We don't hate other people, we just love the way we do things! We want to preserve that way and our special relationship with God. Therefore we're tempted to cite precedence and tradition, to keep other people off the broom...or at least out of the driver's seat!
It's worth noting that as soon as each animal got permission to get on the broom, they quickly joined the cat's side when the next animal wanted on. Cat said no to dog. After dog got on anyway both dog and cat said no to bird, and so on.
We have to remember that God, our broom driver, keeps up his "Yes!" no matter what. Our job isn't to talk him out of it in favor of keeping us special and exclusive, but to happily make "room on the broom" for all he might invite. Kind and welcoming, ready to celebrate the amazing flight...that's our job description as people of faith.
This was a great lesson for all ages, from the youngest who mostly just enjoyed the movie and learned that kindness matters to the oldest who are exploring their own relationship with God and his church. It's just ONE of the things that you can learn in just one day at church!
--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)
Love, Love, Love Is All You Need
I've recently become Bestemor (or grandma) to two beautiful girls. It's been an exciting experience and one I've been eager to have. I knew I would love them as soon as they arrived and did in fact love them before they were born. What an odd concept: how could I love someone so much before I even met them? It can't be because of their looks. Newborns are funny looking creatures that look like old men or aliens or something. However, I did love them immediately and believed they were beautiful regardless of what they actually looked like. How could I love someone I didn't know? I couldn't love them because they're kind or generous or funny or smart because I don't know if they are. But I love them anyway.
This phenomenon has made me stop and consider how I react when I meet adults or other children. Why don't I love them right off the bat? What a question! Certainly there are different kinds of love. Of course, I have to get to know someone new pretty well before I can decide to love them or not. But why? Why can I immediately love my granddaughters and not love everyone else immediately? No one does that. Why not? Isn't that the most Christ-like thing to do? What would happen if I tried to do that? (For one thing, I'd probably be labeled pretty odd.) But what would it look like? I don't suppose I'd be kissing their toes like I do to the babies. Yeah, that would get me locked up pretty quick. But is there a way for me to try to love everyone I meet? I guess it’s just as easy as remembering that whoever I meet is God’s child. I don’t have to figure out if they’re worthy of loving: God’s already done that. Maybe I just have to remember to let that thought override the usual first impressions. Love is all you need.
Randi Adams
This phenomenon has made me stop and consider how I react when I meet adults or other children. Why don't I love them right off the bat? What a question! Certainly there are different kinds of love. Of course, I have to get to know someone new pretty well before I can decide to love them or not. But why? Why can I immediately love my granddaughters and not love everyone else immediately? No one does that. Why not? Isn't that the most Christ-like thing to do? What would happen if I tried to do that? (For one thing, I'd probably be labeled pretty odd.) But what would it look like? I don't suppose I'd be kissing their toes like I do to the babies. Yeah, that would get me locked up pretty quick. But is there a way for me to try to love everyone I meet? I guess it’s just as easy as remembering that whoever I meet is God’s child. I don’t have to figure out if they’re worthy of loving: God’s already done that. Maybe I just have to remember to let that thought override the usual first impressions. Love is all you need.
Randi Adams
Friday, October 25, 2013
Reformation Sunday Coming Up!
Don't forget that Sunday is Reformation Day.
This year we're looking at the contribution of the Latin American church to our theology. We'll be singing Latin hymns and enjoying some simple south-of-the-border snack stuff at Fellowship.
Also remember that St. Mary's annual harvest dinner is Sunday, so pick up some Turkey and side dishes...reversing the old Reformation trend by heading TOWARDS the Catholic church instead of breaking away from it!
Also note the Halloween party for everyone Sunday School age from 3:30-4:30 p.m.
(Plus there's Confirmation class!)
--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)
This year we're looking at the contribution of the Latin American church to our theology. We'll be singing Latin hymns and enjoying some simple south-of-the-border snack stuff at Fellowship.
Also remember that St. Mary's annual harvest dinner is Sunday, so pick up some Turkey and side dishes...reversing the old Reformation trend by heading TOWARDS the Catholic church instead of breaking away from it!
Also note the Halloween party for everyone Sunday School age from 3:30-4:30 p.m.
(Plus there's Confirmation class!)
--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
God Is Love
During our Wednesday Morning Women's Bible Study this morning we came across a familiar claim in the fourth chapter of 1 John: "God is love."
This phrase is deceptively simple. We've all heard it before. The ease with which we digest it (and move on to more puzzling things) threatens to obscure its depth and importance.
Notice what it says. God is love. This is not a comparison as in, "God resembles love." Neither is it a tool or methodology, "God prefers love." It's a statement of being. God is love. The two are one and the same. "Is" means equals...interchangeable...when you say one you've said them both.
I can't even count the number of times I've heard people try to describe God while skating around this simple definition. They always end up with something besides God in the end. You cannot separate God from love and end up in the right place. If it is not love it's not God anymore no matter what name you put to it.
As God's children, redeemed and sanctified by him, we are called to represent and share him with each other and with the world. That means we are also called to be love to the world. It's an interesting concept. Most often we employ love as a verb. We say we have to love the world. That seems difficult. There are plenty of things not to love! When we understand that we are to be love to the world, things become a little clearer. Instead of asking, "How am I feeling here?" or "How am I reacting to this situation?" we can simply ask, "What does love look like right now? What can I bring that shows love?" I don't really feel love for a guy who comes to my door and asks me for gas, but I can be love and show love by filling his tank. In that moment, love looks like gasoline! Sometimes love looks like lasagna or raked leaves or keeping my mouth shut when the turkey is too dry. Each of these becomes a holy act, for when love is among us there God is also.
God is love. Don't miss the importance of those words as you're talking about, showing, and embodying our Lord!
--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)
This phrase is deceptively simple. We've all heard it before. The ease with which we digest it (and move on to more puzzling things) threatens to obscure its depth and importance.
Notice what it says. God is love. This is not a comparison as in, "God resembles love." Neither is it a tool or methodology, "God prefers love." It's a statement of being. God is love. The two are one and the same. "Is" means equals...interchangeable...when you say one you've said them both.
I can't even count the number of times I've heard people try to describe God while skating around this simple definition. They always end up with something besides God in the end. You cannot separate God from love and end up in the right place. If it is not love it's not God anymore no matter what name you put to it.
As God's children, redeemed and sanctified by him, we are called to represent and share him with each other and with the world. That means we are also called to be love to the world. It's an interesting concept. Most often we employ love as a verb. We say we have to love the world. That seems difficult. There are plenty of things not to love! When we understand that we are to be love to the world, things become a little clearer. Instead of asking, "How am I feeling here?" or "How am I reacting to this situation?" we can simply ask, "What does love look like right now? What can I bring that shows love?" I don't really feel love for a guy who comes to my door and asks me for gas, but I can be love and show love by filling his tank. In that moment, love looks like gasoline! Sometimes love looks like lasagna or raked leaves or keeping my mouth shut when the turkey is too dry. Each of these becomes a holy act, for when love is among us there God is also.
God is love. Don't miss the importance of those words as you're talking about, showing, and embodying our Lord!
--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Faithful Endurance
This Sunday's gospel reading came from Luke 18: 1-8. It centered around an interesting parable...
Problem #1: We're not used to hearing stories with unjust people as the main character in the Bible, especially when that story appears to justify nagging.
We have to remember here that the point of any parable is not contained in the story itself. A parable points to a message beyond itself. The parable of the sower is not about farmers and birds, but about how God's word hits us. This parable is not about grumpy judges and persistent widows. The Bible tells us what it's about before word one: always talking to God and never losing heart.
The unjust judge doesn't really exist. You can tell he's a caricature by the way he's described: neither fearing God nor caring what people think. He's the most darn dastardly judge there's ever been. If this were a Western movie he'd be wearing a black hat. He even describes himself this way! "I am Black Bart, the judge who neither fears God nor respects other human beings! Mwahahahahaaaa!"
The widow doesn't exist either. All we know about her is that she is a widow, which means she's probably poor, neglected, of little standing. We have no idea of the merits of her court case. Her adversary isn't named. She just calls him "my adversary". We do know that she won't stop asking the judge for justice no matter what. She bothers him day and night to get whatever she's in desperate need of.
Neither character is the center of the story. Rather the judge's conclusion is. He doesn't care about her, about her case, about justice at all. He just wants to get her off his back. So he grants her request, if nothing else to hush her up! This dispensing of justice by the Worst Judge in the World is the main act, the tipping point of the story.
The message here gets explained by Jesus himself. If the worst black-hatted guy in the world will grant justice to a woman of no standing just because she needs it enough to keep asking (to not give up) won't God grant his children justice as well? After all God is the best being in the universe, not the worst. If even the lowest common denominator person does this, how much more will God?
Problem #2: At first glance the story appears to say, "Ask for anything you want and you'll get it, just as long as you ask every day!"
This bugs us even more than the first. Each of us has a story of wanting a pony more than anything else in the world when we were little, of asking and asking, but never getting it. Broken hearts, getting sick, people dying, and a hundred other things all appear to give the lie to this story. We're tempted to be cynical or to express our anger by saying, "I didn't get what I needed, Jesus! None of this is true. If you really cared you would have helped me!"
Really, though, this isn't a parable about getting everything you want. This is a story about what happens precisely when you don't get everything you want...when those prayers appear to go unanswered.
Lots of people say--or at least imply--that faith is about winning. If you get rich, stay healthy, appear to live a charmed life then God has blessed you. That's his job, to make you happy. That's the "reward" you earn for your "faith". Plenty of churches and individuals trade on this message. "We have the super secret way to get God to bless you! You can be a winner too!"
Faith isn't about winning. We know this because none of us wins! Nobody gets out of this life alive. Nobody gets out of this life without getting hurt really badly either. From that first broken heart to the last goodbye, the world seems to be in the business of emptying us out and roughing us up. No amount of money or distraction will let us avoid that reality.
In the theological sense, none of us remains sinless throughout our lives. It's impossible. If we claim it, we're fibbing. Jesus Christ died on the cross not for the winners, but the losers...those destined to perish without him. That's all of us.
Faith isn't about winning. Faith is what happens when you lose. Jesus defines faith at the end of this gospel by asking how much he'll find on earth. But he's not asking how many winning, holy-seeming people with charmed lives he'll find. He's asking how many people he'll find who haven't given up despite their hardships. He's not asking how many people he'll find whose prayers have been answered; he's asking how many people he'll find with enough trust and courage to ask anyway even if they thing they're not getting a response.
This gospel reading isn't for the magically charmed, the holier-than-everybody. It's for everybody who has cried out in the night with a problem impossible to solve. It's for everybody who's mourned something that's never coming back this side of heaven. It's for everybody who's ever looked at themselves and seen a flawed, unworthy person...anything less than beautiful. The message is simple: hang on. God is coming. And he will deliver justice. He will uplift you. It's real and it's yours. There will be a life of peace, love, and joy for us and for our loved ones. Nothing will stain that life, nothing bad will remain, and it will never, ever end. We will get glimpses of it in earthly joy and earthly justice, but even those are only temporary reflections. Justice is on its way. Truth will prevail. Love conquers all. None of that is in doubt. The only question is whether we'll remember to believe in that promise...whether our hope for a brighter day will endure and whether we'll remember to keep asking for it to come.
--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’
4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”
6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”Many folks, upon reading this, are troubled by two things:
Problem #1: We're not used to hearing stories with unjust people as the main character in the Bible, especially when that story appears to justify nagging.
We have to remember here that the point of any parable is not contained in the story itself. A parable points to a message beyond itself. The parable of the sower is not about farmers and birds, but about how God's word hits us. This parable is not about grumpy judges and persistent widows. The Bible tells us what it's about before word one: always talking to God and never losing heart.
The unjust judge doesn't really exist. You can tell he's a caricature by the way he's described: neither fearing God nor caring what people think. He's the most darn dastardly judge there's ever been. If this were a Western movie he'd be wearing a black hat. He even describes himself this way! "I am Black Bart, the judge who neither fears God nor respects other human beings! Mwahahahahaaaa!"
The widow doesn't exist either. All we know about her is that she is a widow, which means she's probably poor, neglected, of little standing. We have no idea of the merits of her court case. Her adversary isn't named. She just calls him "my adversary". We do know that she won't stop asking the judge for justice no matter what. She bothers him day and night to get whatever she's in desperate need of.
Neither character is the center of the story. Rather the judge's conclusion is. He doesn't care about her, about her case, about justice at all. He just wants to get her off his back. So he grants her request, if nothing else to hush her up! This dispensing of justice by the Worst Judge in the World is the main act, the tipping point of the story.
The message here gets explained by Jesus himself. If the worst black-hatted guy in the world will grant justice to a woman of no standing just because she needs it enough to keep asking (to not give up) won't God grant his children justice as well? After all God is the best being in the universe, not the worst. If even the lowest common denominator person does this, how much more will God?
Problem #2: At first glance the story appears to say, "Ask for anything you want and you'll get it, just as long as you ask every day!"
This bugs us even more than the first. Each of us has a story of wanting a pony more than anything else in the world when we were little, of asking and asking, but never getting it. Broken hearts, getting sick, people dying, and a hundred other things all appear to give the lie to this story. We're tempted to be cynical or to express our anger by saying, "I didn't get what I needed, Jesus! None of this is true. If you really cared you would have helped me!"
Really, though, this isn't a parable about getting everything you want. This is a story about what happens precisely when you don't get everything you want...when those prayers appear to go unanswered.
Lots of people say--or at least imply--that faith is about winning. If you get rich, stay healthy, appear to live a charmed life then God has blessed you. That's his job, to make you happy. That's the "reward" you earn for your "faith". Plenty of churches and individuals trade on this message. "We have the super secret way to get God to bless you! You can be a winner too!"
Faith isn't about winning. We know this because none of us wins! Nobody gets out of this life alive. Nobody gets out of this life without getting hurt really badly either. From that first broken heart to the last goodbye, the world seems to be in the business of emptying us out and roughing us up. No amount of money or distraction will let us avoid that reality.
In the theological sense, none of us remains sinless throughout our lives. It's impossible. If we claim it, we're fibbing. Jesus Christ died on the cross not for the winners, but the losers...those destined to perish without him. That's all of us.
Faith isn't about winning. Faith is what happens when you lose. Jesus defines faith at the end of this gospel by asking how much he'll find on earth. But he's not asking how many winning, holy-seeming people with charmed lives he'll find. He's asking how many people he'll find who haven't given up despite their hardships. He's not asking how many people he'll find whose prayers have been answered; he's asking how many people he'll find with enough trust and courage to ask anyway even if they thing they're not getting a response.
This gospel reading isn't for the magically charmed, the holier-than-everybody. It's for everybody who has cried out in the night with a problem impossible to solve. It's for everybody who's mourned something that's never coming back this side of heaven. It's for everybody who's ever looked at themselves and seen a flawed, unworthy person...anything less than beautiful. The message is simple: hang on. God is coming. And he will deliver justice. He will uplift you. It's real and it's yours. There will be a life of peace, love, and joy for us and for our loved ones. Nothing will stain that life, nothing bad will remain, and it will never, ever end. We will get glimpses of it in earthly joy and earthly justice, but even those are only temporary reflections. Justice is on its way. Truth will prevail. Love conquers all. None of that is in doubt. The only question is whether we'll remember to believe in that promise...whether our hope for a brighter day will endure and whether we'll remember to keep asking for it to come.
--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)
Monday, October 21, 2013
Church Spirit
I want to talk about the spirit we have in our church...we used to see each other once a week, during Sunday worship...now I see church member EVERYWHERE! In the school-teaching in classrooms, meetings, in offices; at the parks, on Wednesday night for a bulb exchange, on Saturdays for music practice, On Friday nights cheering at the football games, other nights cheering on the Volleyball players, on Saturday for Theology on Tap. You can't go anywhere without seeing and experiencing our membership in the community on a daily basis. The membership has become a positive, energetic, lively force for good in our community and beyond. It makes me feel like doing more to promote our Christian values in the world. Thanks to you all who show God's work in a positive and lovely light in this world!
Susan
Susan
Friday, October 18, 2013
Even More Events...Plus Stay Tuned!!!
Since this is the week of announcements, we might as well go ahead and complete the cycle, talking about our regular events still ongoing and a couple of exciting new experiments.
In all the hubbub about our short-term meetings and special events, don't forget the ongoing, steady work we're doing. Inspire Craft Group still meets every Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m.. Women's Bible Study gathers every Wednesday morning at 10:00 a.m. Theology on Tap and the Gospel Group meet monthly to discuss scripture and faith. We're also starting a Girls Discussion Group and Boys Discussion Group for youth to augment our usual youth activities.
We have big dreams for spring too. We'd like to convert the back St. John's lot--now a repository for brown grass in the summer--into a Community Garden, echoing the project of our friends from Colfax that they shared during our Cluster Worship. We're also looking for more ways to be involved in Campus Ministry. Though we're a ways from Moscow geographically, many of our former youth now attend the U of I and it'd be nice to support them still.
Finally, watch for one HUGE announcement about next summer coming as soon as a couple details are ironed out. You will not...want to miss...this one. Soon!
Make sure to take advantage of all the lively things we'll be doing this year!
--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)
In all the hubbub about our short-term meetings and special events, don't forget the ongoing, steady work we're doing. Inspire Craft Group still meets every Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m.. Women's Bible Study gathers every Wednesday morning at 10:00 a.m. Theology on Tap and the Gospel Group meet monthly to discuss scripture and faith. We're also starting a Girls Discussion Group and Boys Discussion Group for youth to augment our usual youth activities.
We have big dreams for spring too. We'd like to convert the back St. John's lot--now a repository for brown grass in the summer--into a Community Garden, echoing the project of our friends from Colfax that they shared during our Cluster Worship. We're also looking for more ways to be involved in Campus Ministry. Though we're a ways from Moscow geographically, many of our former youth now attend the U of I and it'd be nice to support them still.
Finally, watch for one HUGE announcement about next summer coming as soon as a couple details are ironed out. You will not...want to miss...this one. Soon!
Make sure to take advantage of all the lively things we'll be doing this year!
--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Special Events In the Next Three Months
Yesterday we talked about our short-term, small-group meetings. Today we're going to review the one-time special events for the fall and winter of 2013.
You've already experienced two of our biggest events, the BBQ party and Cluster Worship held in September. Those large-scale, public celebrations showed our community what we're about.
We're keeping the ball rolling with a more modest outing in October. The girls in our confirmation class have volunteered to hand out candy at the church doors on Halloween. We always hand out candy at the parsonage but there's value in having kids come to the church as well. Anything that reminds people that we're active, alive, and part of this community is a step in the right direction. Doing it through candy is a no-brainer. What sweeter gift could there be?
But here's an example of how we do things. Most folks hand out fun-sized bars on Halloween. Those are the miniature versions...very sensible and cost-effective. Nothing wrong with that! But when I was a kid trick-or-treating I always remembered my joy when I got a full-sized candy bar. They're more expensive. You can get enough fun-sized bars to safely feed Genesee for around $30. Regular-sized bars will run you around $50 if you find them on sale. The difference is $20.
That's a significant difference and I understand why most folks would go the cheaper route. Kids probably get enough candy as it is and $20 isn't anything to sneeze at. But when I'm thinking about giving to the church, that $20 isn't as big of a deal. I'm not weighing price-per-ounce as much as I'm asking what message the candy will send. When kids walk up to our church doors do we want them to have a regular and fine experience or something they'll remember and smile about? If I can spend $20 to give them the latter (for Christ's sake, not for mine) that's more than a good investment. Who am I to hold back $20 in the name of getting something more for myself?
Deliver the message first, count the cost later...if at all. That is the gospel, evangelist way. So yeah, the kids coming to the church doors will get at least regular-sized candy bars this year. If I can find King-Sized candy bars on sale enough, they'll get those instead and have their minds blown. That's not just my gift to them, it's my gift to the church and our community.
Also in October, on Reformation Sunday, we're going to celebrate the Latin American contributions to our church with music and some Latin American cuisine after church. It won't be a potluck...maybe not even a full meal. Just some things to nosh on to set apart the day.
Moving on into November, we'll serve our usual Thanksgiving Dinner for any folks who might find themselves alone in Genesee or just not wanting to cook. It's become quite the event over the years. We sometimes get as few as 20 but we've had over 40 before. We love it when families come to be a part of our bigger church/community family. 4:00 on Thanksgiving Day. Come if you want, bring friends, and let people know!
In December we'll have another big, public celebration. Our band is going to put on a Christmas concert on a Saturday night near Christmas. It'll be a familiar song, sing-along event. We'll sing Silent Night and Joy to the World, of course, but we'll also do Frosty and Rudolph and Let It Snow...all your favorites. This will replace the caroling and cookie distribution that we've done in past years. We will ask our church folks to bake a few cookies for the event, but nothing near the 100+ dozen we've distributed in years past. Maybe 10-12 dozen total would do it. Everyone will be invited.
We're going to spread the word about all these events far and wide. As they come up, please help us by letting your friends know.
I hope you're ready for an exciting fall!
--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)
You've already experienced two of our biggest events, the BBQ party and Cluster Worship held in September. Those large-scale, public celebrations showed our community what we're about.
We're keeping the ball rolling with a more modest outing in October. The girls in our confirmation class have volunteered to hand out candy at the church doors on Halloween. We always hand out candy at the parsonage but there's value in having kids come to the church as well. Anything that reminds people that we're active, alive, and part of this community is a step in the right direction. Doing it through candy is a no-brainer. What sweeter gift could there be?
But here's an example of how we do things. Most folks hand out fun-sized bars on Halloween. Those are the miniature versions...very sensible and cost-effective. Nothing wrong with that! But when I was a kid trick-or-treating I always remembered my joy when I got a full-sized candy bar. They're more expensive. You can get enough fun-sized bars to safely feed Genesee for around $30. Regular-sized bars will run you around $50 if you find them on sale. The difference is $20.
That's a significant difference and I understand why most folks would go the cheaper route. Kids probably get enough candy as it is and $20 isn't anything to sneeze at. But when I'm thinking about giving to the church, that $20 isn't as big of a deal. I'm not weighing price-per-ounce as much as I'm asking what message the candy will send. When kids walk up to our church doors do we want them to have a regular and fine experience or something they'll remember and smile about? If I can spend $20 to give them the latter (for Christ's sake, not for mine) that's more than a good investment. Who am I to hold back $20 in the name of getting something more for myself?
Deliver the message first, count the cost later...if at all. That is the gospel, evangelist way. So yeah, the kids coming to the church doors will get at least regular-sized candy bars this year. If I can find King-Sized candy bars on sale enough, they'll get those instead and have their minds blown. That's not just my gift to them, it's my gift to the church and our community.
Also in October, on Reformation Sunday, we're going to celebrate the Latin American contributions to our church with music and some Latin American cuisine after church. It won't be a potluck...maybe not even a full meal. Just some things to nosh on to set apart the day.
Moving on into November, we'll serve our usual Thanksgiving Dinner for any folks who might find themselves alone in Genesee or just not wanting to cook. It's become quite the event over the years. We sometimes get as few as 20 but we've had over 40 before. We love it when families come to be a part of our bigger church/community family. 4:00 on Thanksgiving Day. Come if you want, bring friends, and let people know!
In December we'll have another big, public celebration. Our band is going to put on a Christmas concert on a Saturday night near Christmas. It'll be a familiar song, sing-along event. We'll sing Silent Night and Joy to the World, of course, but we'll also do Frosty and Rudolph and Let It Snow...all your favorites. This will replace the caroling and cookie distribution that we've done in past years. We will ask our church folks to bake a few cookies for the event, but nothing near the 100+ dozen we've distributed in years past. Maybe 10-12 dozen total would do it. Everyone will be invited.
We're going to spread the word about all these events far and wide. As they come up, please help us by letting your friends know.
I hope you're ready for an exciting fall!
--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)
Monday, October 14, 2013
And Away We Go!
The Genesee Lutheran Parish website is back online and back on track for fall! And what a season it's going to be.
For anyone who missed it, we started off the year with a bang, hosting the community of Genesee for a backyard BBQ in September, followed by a similar party for all the Lutheran churches in our Palouse cluster the week after. Both of those events were amazing.
After catching our breath for a couple weeks, we're ready to announce some of the events for the year. We're going to break them up into various categories. Today we'll focus on small group meetings.
Getting together with a small group of friends is one of the best ways to learn about each other and explore our faith. This year we're continuing the Theology on Tap and Gospel Group meetings. Theology on Tap meets once a month, the first or second Saturday depending on what else is going on. We meet over some nice adult beverages and talk about an aspect of God, faith, or church life. Gospel Group meets on a varying schedule, announced in church and here on the website. Those folks take a look at the upcoming Gospel lessons for the next few worship services and help me design a sermon based on same. These events are open to anyone. You don't have to come every time; the group changes from month to month. You can bring friends. No particular level of expertise or belief is required.
We also have a bevy of topics for Thursday Night Study this year. We meet at 7:00 on Thursdays, beginning on November 7th. Each topic will run from 3-6 weeks. You come for that duration, learn about the subject at hand, discuss and reflect. At the end of that 3-6 week span a new topic begins. Come for the topics that interest you, skip the ones that don't. (Though in my biased opinion they're ALL interesting!)
We're starting out the year with a popular holdover from last season: Lutheran Basics. This was hands-down the best course from 2012-13. Some folks who went through it last year want to come again because we found so many interesting things! This course will begin on Thursday the 7th of November.
After that's done we'll have studies on parenting (and grandparenting!), aging, school, a more advance look at Lutheranism, and maybe even a book club or two. Some of these course may move away from Thursday nights, depending. We'll announce the schedule as we go.
This is just the tip of the iceberg as far as events and projects around church this year. Stay tuned for more!
--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)